Door operating mechanism for dump cars



March 1, 1949. J. J. KORDISH ETAL DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR DUMP CARS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11, 1946 THE HE ATTORNEY.

March 1, 1949.- J. J. KORDISH EI'AL 2,463,395

A DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR DUMP CARS Filed April 11, 1946 4 Sheets- Sheet 2 ET w- 3 QR NR m Es r m M W 1 /..w M @Q $4 m Tlil n v N March 1, 1949. J. J. KoRplsH ETAL DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM FOR DUMP CARS Filed April 11, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 R QM Patented Mar. 1, 1949 DOOR OPERATING NIECHANISM FOR DUMP CARS John J. Kordish and Mike Trotta, Hibbing, Minn., Iron Mining Company, H1bbing, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application April 11, 1946, Serial No. 661,221

assignors to Oliver Claims. 1

This invention relates to a door operating mechanism for dump cars, especially for dump cars which are used to carry iron ore and is a continuation-impart of our copending application Serial No. 509,598, filed November 9, 1943, and which has since matured as a patent granted Oct. '7, 1947, Patent Number 2,428,629. The ore is dumped from the car by raising one side of the body from the frame. Under normal conditions the door, which extends the length of the body, opens by gravity as the body is tilted. However, the cars are often used in freezing weather, and the car doors become frozen and refuse to open when the body is tilted. In many instances the entire car with its load is turned over due to the failure of the door to open.

It is an object of this invention to provide mechanism for positively opening the door at the beginning of the dumping cycle.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following description and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the dump car;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line II-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line IIIIII of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the door operating mechanism with the body in the undumped position;

Figure 5 is a sectional plan taken on line VV of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing the body in dumped position;

Figure 7 is a sectional elevation taken on line VII-VII of Figure 5; and

Figure 8 is a cross section taken on the line VIIIV'III of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral 2 indicates the body of a dump car, the body being mounted on the frame 4. Extending the length of each side of the body 2 is a door 6 which is pivotally mounted on the pins 8. The body may be tilted to either side by means of air cylinders 10 which are pivotally mounted on each side of the frame 4. While one cylinder is shown on each side of the frame, two or more cylinders may be used if desired. The piston rod l2 of each cylinder I0 is attached to the body 2 by means of a pins l4. vMounted on each side of the body are a plurality of brackets l6 for supporting the body 2. As best shown in Figure 8, the top of each of the brackets I6 is provided with a flat portion l8 and a semi' circular portion 20. The bodyZ has a plurality of bearing members 22 attached thereto for cooperating with the corresponding supports l6. Each of the bearings 22 has a flat portion 24 on which the body of the car is normally supported and a curved portion 26 on which the car body is supported as it israised from the frame. A semicircular portion 28 adjacent the portion 26 supports the body during the latter part of its upward movement.

In operation, air is supplied to the bottom of the cylinders in on one side of the car. This raises that side of the body while the other side is supported by the portions 26 and 28 of the bearings 22. During the latter part of this tilting movement the bearing portion 28 rests in the portion 28 of the support 16 and the entire body rotates about the center of these semi-circular portions. As the body rises, the door 6 normally drops due to gravity to the dotted line position shown in Figure 2. In place of the rolling and pivot support shown, the body may pivot about a single point with the rolling action omitted.

The positive door opening mechanism which constitutes the invention in the present application is best shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. The mechanism for opening each door is identical and the same reference numerals will be used for the various parts thereof except that the suffix R is used to indicate the mechanism for opening the right hand door and the sufiix L is used to indicate the mechanism for opening the left hand door. A door operating link 30R. is pivotally connected to the door 6 by the pin 32R. Extending downwardly from the body 2 are two spaced apart brackets 34R having a pin 36R extending therebetween. Pivotally mounted on this pin 36R is a three-armed lever 3BR, one arm of which is pivotally connected to the link 30R by means of a pin 443R, the second arm of which is pivotally connected to a link 42R by means of a pin 44R and the third arm of which extends over the car sill 46 and carries a roller 48R at its free end. The link 42R. extends across the center line of the car and is pivotally connected to one arm of the three-armed lever 50R by means of the pin SIR. The lever 50B is pivotally mounted on the pin 36L along with lever 38L. A bracket 52R is welded or otherwise fastened to the car sill 46 and at its outer end carries a block 54R which has a flat portion l8 and a semi-circular portion 20 the same as bracket l6. The arm 56R of lever 50R is shaped in the same manner as bearing member 22 so that there will be the same relative rolling action between bracket 54R and arm 56R as between bracket 16 and bearing 22. The third arm 58R of lever 50R. extends downwardly and outwardly toward the auxiliary door operating arm block 69R which is integral with bracket 54R.

When the car is in the undumped position, the pressure of the load and the force of gravity tend to force the right hand door 6 open about the pin 8. This tends to force link R to the left to rotate lever 38R. about the pin 36R to force the roller 48R against the center sill 46 which impedes the movement of the roller 48R and thus prevents the door from opening. When air is applied to the bottom of the left hand cylinder ID, that side of the body is raised while the other side is supported by the portions 26 and 28 of the bearings 22. As the body rises, the right hand door 6 will open by gravity as follows:

The lever 38R is raised with body 2 and the roller 48R has a tendency to be raised therewith, but pressure of the load and force of gravity on door 6 is transmitted to lever 38R by link 3BR. This causes the lever 38R to rotate about its pin 36R and keeps the roller 48R, in constant contact with sill 46. The speed and amount of opening of door 6 are regulated by the speed and amount of rotation of body 2 about the center of the semi-circular portion 2B. When the body 2 has reached its full dump position, the door 6 lies in the same plane as the floor of body 2 as shown in Figures 2 and 6. The opening of right hand door 6 also causes the rotation of lever R about its pin connection 36L. Arm 58R, of lever 50R. rotates therewith and does not contact block 60R during normal operation. When right hand door 6 does not open for any reason (such as freezing of the door to the body) the lever 50R does not rotate about its pin 36R. and as the body rises the arm 58R, will contact block BUR. This causes lever EllR to rotate about its pin 36L to pull link 42R, to the left, thus rotating lever 38R to pull link 39R to the left and force the door 6 open. When the body 2 has been raised a Sllfi'lcient distance so that arm 58R is clear of block 60R, no more opening force is applied on door 6 and from this point on the door continues to open by gravity. In other words, the door becomes free floating, that is, it can discontinue opening or be closed without imposing any restraining action upon the door operating linkage. During the free floating period when the door 5 strikes an obstruction, such as previously dumped material, it will close causing link 30R to rotate lever 38R about its pin connection 36R. This causes roller 48R to move away from center sill 46 with no restrictions.

During dumping to the right the left hand door 6 is kept closed as follows: the door tending to open engages the door opening link 30L, which tends to produce a turning effort on lever 38L. This tends to move link 42L which engages lever 59L and tends to produce a turning effort thereon. Arm L is designed to have the same rolling action on bracket 54L as bearing 22 has on support l6 and therefore has no motion relative to body 2. Thus lever 50L cannot rotate and movement of left hand door 6 with respect to body 2 is prevented. The block BBL is bent outwardly as shown so that the arm 58L does not contact it during rotation of the body about the portions l8 and 20.

When air is released from cylinder ill, the weight of body 2 forces the piston of the cylinder l9 downward and body 2 rotates in a reverse direction. Lever 38R is lowered with body 2 and the contact of roller 48 upon the center sill 46 causes the lever 38R to rotate about its pin 36R. The rotation of lever 38R moves link 30R to the right to force the right hand door 6 to close.

When the car is dumped in the opposite direction to that discussed above, the left hand linkage will perform in the same manner as described above for the right hand linkage.

While one embodiment of our invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A dump car comprising an underframe, a movable body mounted on said frame, means for tilting said body with respect to said frame to dis charge its load, a door mounted for pivotal movement parallel to the axis of body tilt on the discharge side of said body, said door tending to open by gravity when the body is tilted, a twoarmed lever pivotally mounted on said body on the side adjacent the door, a link pivotally connecting one arm of said lever to the door, an abutment on said frame on the side opposite said door, a second two-armed lever pivotally mounted on said body on the side opposite the door, and a link connecting the second arm of the first lever to an arm Of the second lever, the second arm of the second lever bearing on said abutment to rotate said lever and force the door open should it fail to open by gravity as the body begins to tilt, said last named arm leaving said abutment upon continued tilting of said body so that the door becomes full floating after it is forced open.

2. A dump car comprising an underframe, a movable body mounted on said frame, means for tilting said body with respect to said frame to discharge its load, a door mounted for pivotal movement parallel to the axis of body tilt on the discharge side of said body, said door tending to open by gravity when the body is tilted, a three-armed lever pivotally mounted on said body on the side adjacent the door, a link pivotally connecting one arm of said lever to the door, an abutment on said frame on the side opposite said door, a two-armed lever pivotally mounted on said body on the side opposite the door, a link connecting the second arm of the three-armed lever to an arm of the two-armed lever, the second arm of the two-armed lever bearing on said abutment to rotate said two-armed lever and force the door open should it fail to open by gravity as the body begins to tilt, said last named arm leaving said abutment upon continued tilting of said body so that the door becomes full floating after it is forced open, and a roller mounted on the third arm of the first lever, said roller being forced against the frame when the body is lowered to rotate said three-armed lever in the direction opposite the first rotation to close said door.

3. A dump car comprising an underframe, a movable body mounted on said frame, means for tilting said body with respect to said frame in either direction to discharge its load, a door on each side of the body mounted for pivotal movement parallel to the axis of body tilt, each of said doors tending to open by gravity when the body is tilted in its direction, a pivot pin parallel to the door pivot connected to said body on each side of the centerline of the body, a two-armed lever mounted on each pin, a link pivotally connecting one arm of said lever to the door adjacent thereto, an abutment on said frame on each side of the centerline, a three-armed lever mounted on each of said pins, a link connecting the second arm of the two-armed lever on one side of the body to one of the arms of the three-armed lever on the opposite side of the body, the second arm of the three-armed lever having no movement relative to the body as it tilts in the direction of the said second arm, a bearing surface on said underframe against which the said second arm bears to keep the door opposite the discharge side closed during titling, the third arm of the last named three-armed lever clearing its adjacent abutment during tilting of the body, the third arm of the opposite three-armed lever bearing on said abutment to rotate said lever and force the door open should it fail to open by gravity as the body begins to tilt, said last named arm leaving said abutment upon continued tilting of said body so that the door becomes full floating after it is forced open.

4. A dump car comprising an underframe, a movable body mounted on said frame, means for tilting said body with respect to said frame in either direction to discharge its load, a door on each side of the body mounted for pivotal movement parallel to the axis of body tilt, each of said doors tending to open by gravity when the body is tilted in its direction, a pivot pin parallel to the door pivot connected to said body on each side of the centerline of the body, a two-armed lever mounted on each pin, a link pivotally connecting one arm of said lever to the door adjacent thereto, a second two-armed lever mounted on each of said pins, a pair of links, each connecting the second arm of one of the first named two-armed levers to an arm of the second named two-armed lever on the opposite side of the body, the second arm of the second two-armed lever on the discharge side having no movement relative to the tilting body, and a bearing surface on said underirame against which the last named arm bears to keep the door opposite the discharge side closed during tilting.

5. A dump car comprising an underframe, a movable body mounted on said frame, means for tilting said body with respect to said frame in either direction to discharge its load, a door on each side of the body mounted for pivotal movement parallel to the axis of body tilt, each of said doors tending to open by gravity when the body is tilted in its direction, a pivot pin parallel to the door pivot connected to said body on each side of the centerline of the body, a three-armed lever mounted on each pin, a link pivotally connecting one arm of said lever to the door adjacent thereto, an abutment on said frame on each side of the centerline, a second three-armed lever mounted on each of said pins, a link connecting the second arm of the first three-armed lever on one side of the body to one of the arms of the second three-armed lever on the opposite side of the body, the second arm of the second three-armed lever on the opposite side of the body, the second arm of the second three-armed lever having no movement relative to the body as it tilts in the direction of the said second arm, a bearing surface on said underframe against which the said second arm bears to keep the door opposite the discharge side closed during tilting, the third arm of the last named three-armed lever clearing its adjacent abutment during tilting of the body, the third arm of the second three-armed lever on the opposite side bearing on said abutment to rotate said lever and force the door open should it fail to open by gravity as the body begins to tilt, said last named arm leaving said abutment upon continued tilting of said body so that the door becomes full floating after it is forced open, a roller mounted on the third arm of each of the first named levers, the roller on the lever adjacent the open door being forced against the center sill of the underframe when the body is lowered to rotate said lever to close said door.

JOHN J. KORDISH. MIKE TROTTA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,789,956 Burner Jan. 27, 1931 2,142,249 Miller Jan. 3, 1939 

